149 
the home of want and distress. With ample, ners well paid, and con- 
genial labour, always to be had for men, women, and children, for the 
nature of the industry provides occupation for all, "a sufficient livelihood 
at least will be within reach of all who care to work, and it is not too 
much = orem that the near future may see a ped a sai contented 
community replace | the half starved and not much more than half 
civilized “ wreckers ” whose names have ere “a by-word and a fear” 
to many an unfortunate a whose vessel has been swept b 
I have, &e. 
(Signed) H. JACKSON, 
Commissioner. 
XLVII.—SISAL HEMP AT THE TURKS AND CAICOS 
ISLANDS 
[K. B., 1892, pp. 217~218.] 
The progress made in a SISAL HEMP industry at the Turks and 
E Islands i is discussed as follows in the Blue Book Report genia 
r 1891 :—The cultivation of the Pita (Sisal) plant has made fai 
sien asiieclally i in the Caicos Islands, and the mei from the planta- 
f 
raising pita mathe and extracting the fibre, registered under the com- 
panies ordinance, pe there are several private plantations. A small 
shipment of fibre made to New York within the year from one of 
the latter, and the Ho quality fetched a cent a pound more than the 
second quality—an equal price to the be Bt from Yucatan. This speaks 
well for the anality of the fibre which can be produced in these islands, 
and promises a bright future for the local fibre industry. 
XLVII.—BAHAMAS INDUSTRIES. 
[K. B., 1891, pp. 175~177.} 
One of the most interesting circumstances connected with:!the 
economic development of the Bahamas Islands is the gee attention 
devoted within the last few years to the panung of Sisal hemp (Agave 
rigida var. sisalana). In a recent report in the Blue Book for the 
year , Sir Ambrose Shea, K.C.M.G., the Governor of the Bahamas, 
supplies the following | particulars respecting this industry :— 
Fibre Cultivation. 
St teady progress continues to be made in this industry, with increasing 
faith in its value and ee A report of the cultivation to the 
present time has been prepared by order of the Government, a 
onsen strictly accurate, would not convey true impressions to those a 
istance 
